A method of creating a textured surface on a hard-surfaced high modulus alternative substrate, such as glass, ceramic, and glass-ceramic materials, includes direct mechanical texturing of the surface of the substrate. Mechanical texturing on a glass substrate to obtain anisotropic thin-film media has been pursued intensively for some time because of the high performance of the media and the high modulus of the glass substrate. However, the extreme hardness of the glass substrate imposed a great difficulty in achieving the desired surface topography for high orientation ratio, and in process control to maintain the desired topography. Imperfect mechanically textured surfaces have been formed with deep cuts and non-uniformity due to the difficult process conditions.
A recently developed approach for texturing surfaces of hard-surfaced, high modulus alternative substrate materials, such as glass, ceramic, and glass-ceramic materials, is to mechanically texture directly on a sol-gel layer spin-coated on a glass substrate. With its glass-like properties, sol-gel has very strong affinity to a glass substrate and bonds to the substrate very well. By treating the sol-gel layer at different temperatures, different surface hardnesses can be obtained to achieve the desired surface topography and better process control. However, obtaining precise replication by mechanical texturing of the sol-gel layer on the glass substrate is difficult to achieve from disk to disk.
In view of the above, there exists a need for improved methodology and means for forming a high quality texture pattern in polymeric surfaces and replicating it to the surface of high modulus, very hard materials such as glass, ceramic, or glass-ceramic disk substrates, such that the “perfect” textured polymeric surface can be reproduced and repeated from disk to disk and all the disks can have the identical high surface quality.
The present invention addresses and solves problems and difficulties attendant upon the formation of faithfully replicated textured surface patterns in the surfaces of sol-gel films on the surfaces of very hard materials, e.g., of glass, ceramic, or glass-ceramic substrates, such as are utilized in the manufacture of magnetic recording media, while maintaining full capability with substantially all aspects of conventional automated manufacturing technology. Further, the methodology and means afforded by the present invention enjoy diverse utility in the manufacture of various other devices requiring formation of surfaces with precisely replicated surface texturing formed therein.